e3D Interactive Purchases Four RenderDrives From ART VPS

e3D is currently using its ART VPS RenderDrives to create animation frames of a new canal system for the River Carron in Scotland

e3D Interactive has purchased four 64-bit RenderDrive hardware ray-tracing systems from ART VPS. The RD6400 models each contain 16 AR350 ray-tracing processors that will be used by e3D to render architectural visualizations for commercial and residential projects.

"We needed a ray-tracing solution that could handle the large data sets we create," says e3D director Neil Evans. "Several of the software rendering solutions we've used have been unstable, crashing when we try to create a final rendering. When we send an image to the RenderDrive, we know we'll get a great image back."

RenderDrive's modular ray-tracing architecture enables 3D rendering to be split across an array of chips. Full-frame previews are rendered in seconds, bringing unprecedented interactivity to tasks such as lighting set-up, shot composition and material mapping. Each system features capacity in excess of 30 million polygons.

"For larger projects, we link the RenderDrives, enabling us to render an image in 30 minutes instead of the two to three hours software renderers would take," says Evans.

e3D's models are created in Maya using architectural information from the project developers. RenderDrive's RenderPipe plug-in for Maya provides a special library of lighting, material and shading effects. For a recent canal project, e3D relied heavily on water, lumber and metal shaders available through RenderPipe.

"The RenderDrive shaders are some of the key reasons we bought the systems," Evans says. "We use as many of them as possible on interior renderings, in particular the RPshiny shader."

Animation of the final renderings is controlled with Virtual Vertex's Muster, which interfaces with both Maya and the RenderDrive.

e3D is currently using its RenderDrives to create animation frames of a new canal system for the River Carron in Scotland. The system will be approximately 1.5km long and incorporate a boat lift based on the design of the mythical Scottish Kelpie. The animation will be used as part of the canal project's proposal to secure funding.

About ART VPS Ltd.ART VPS Ltd. offers hardware-accelerated 3D ray tracing that improves design communication and helps reduce the time and cost required to bring a new project to market. ART VPS systems are used by some of the world's leading design and manufacturing companies, including Bombardier Aerospace, Learjet, Nikon, and Procter & Gamble; architectural firms such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Bovis Lend Lease, and Chapman Taylor Partners; entertainment companies such as IBM Interactive and Walt Disney Imagineering; and photographers and digital post-production studios, including Doug Fisher, Saddington & Baynes and Burrows.